Comments for SAFE Educational Opportunities!https://safeblog.org
Aviation Excellence: Topics and discussionSat, 09 Dec 2017 15:19:28 +0000hourly1Comment on SAFE Member Discounts Pay You Back! by “Broadband Speed” For Your Brain! – SAFE Educational Opportunities!https://safeblog.org/2015/12/29/safe-member-discounts-pay-you-back/comment-page-2/#comment-605
Sat, 09 Dec 2017 15:19:28 +0000http://safeblog.org/?p=241#comment-605[…] SAFE and support our mission of generating aviation excellence in teaching and flying. Our amazing member benefits alone make this commitment worthwhile and fun. Lastly, use our FREE SAFE Toolkit App to put pilot […]
]]>Comment on CFI Good to Great; Learn From Your Students! by “Broadband Speed” For Your Brain! – SAFE Educational Opportunities!https://safeblog.org/2017/10/21/cfi-good-to-great-learn-from-your-students/comment-page-1/#comment-604
Sat, 09 Dec 2017 15:15:11 +0000http://safeblog.org/?p=1679#comment-604[…] summary, as mentioned in a previous blog article about “Peak” , Anders Ericsson’s study of master performers, high motivation and a special deep practice […]
]]>Comment on How to Apply in IACRA for a Student Pilot Certificate by David St. Georgehttps://safeblog.org/2016/04/06/how-to-apply-in-iacra-for-student-certificate/comment-page-1/#comment-603
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 17:12:01 +0000http://safeblog.org/?p=564#comment-603Old student pilot certificates are good until their expiration date.
]]>Comment on Aviation Safety; We Can Do Better! by David St. Georgehttps://safeblog.org/2017/11/11/aviation-safety-we-can-do-better/comment-page-1/#comment-602
Tue, 14 Nov 2017 17:45:51 +0000https://safeblog.org/?p=1805#comment-602From Richard McSpadden; Executive Director Air Safety Institute:

Nov 13, 2017

The recent Icon A5 tragedy may have another unfortunate consequence, beyond the tragic loss of a remarkable man, Roy Halladay. The accident will stress the Icon company and put an exceptionally well-designed aircraft at risk of an unfair reputation. Icon set out with a mission to build the safest light sport aircraft in the world, and from my recent flight experience, it appears they achieved that and more, perhaps designing one of the safest aircraft in any category. Icon is working to broaden the aviation market and unfortunately for the industry, those efforts may be stunted due to recent accidents.
Icon Founder and CEO Kirk Hawkins is a driven Stanford graduate with an impressive military flying background and a brilliant vision to expand general aviation by appealing to a new cache of adventurous, spirited potential pilots, much like the kind of people flying appealed to at the dawn of aviation. Icon’s strategy is helpful to general aviation and if successful, will infuse it with new participants, taking advantage of FAA sport pilot rules which open general aviation at reduced cost and regulatory oversight. General aviation needs this kind of infusion.
From limited information and public videos, probable cause in the Halladay accident will likely stem from him not fully appreciating the dynamics of low altitude (LOWAT) flying. LOWAT flying demands constant awareness of “time to impact”, influenced by speed, altitude and aircraft attitude. Minor distractions are exaggerated into significant risks because of reduced time for recognition and recovery before ground impact. Concepts like “time to impact” and responses like “climb to cope” are essential parts of the subconscious when flying LOWAT. Most general aviation aircraft, including the Icon, have an added challenge of relatively limited engine power, which reduces the ability to escape exaggerated pitch attitudes and large sink rates. To their credit, Icon requires transition training before aircraft delivery, which includes some LOWAT training, and Icon recently published a well-thought-out piece on LOWAT flying, providing some guidelines and considerations.
Icon may need to expand LOWAT education and perhaps infuse their training programs with methods to instill a culture and a mindset among Icon pilots that respects the demands of LOWAT flying, while still promoting the fun and adventure. These are not mutually exclusive concepts. Hawkins will have to assess whether or not he has the right mix of instructor cadre to conduct expanded training optimized for general aviation pilots, who have varied training backgrounds and are constantly managing time and funding constraints.
About a decade ago, Cirrus had a troubling accident rate and the reputation of the aircraft suffered despite significant safety enhancements. Cirrus responded, redesigning training and working with the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) to change the Cirrus culture and help pilots adapt and take advantage of the aircraft’s safety features. Icon will need a similar response to learn from this year’s tragedies and establish a culture that promotes the thrill of flying in the LOWAT environment, while instilling a respect for “time to impact” among an adventurous breed of general aviation pilots.

Richard G. McSpadden, Jr.
Executive Director

]]>Comment on Aviation Safety; We Can Do Better! by David St. Georgehttps://safeblog.org/2017/11/11/aviation-safety-we-can-do-better/comment-page-1/#comment-601
Sat, 11 Nov 2017 18:06:12 +0000https://safeblog.org/?p=1805#comment-601I am sorry for your discomfort. I am very cautious to avoid “rushing to judgment” in aviation events like this and struggled with a decision to publish and what to say. Ultimately the perceived benefit won mostly due to the presence of numerous eye-witness reports of low “crazy” low flying and a video of the event. I am sorry, but there does not seem to be much mystery here about causation.

I think it is important to learn from the errors of others. The Icon designer and test pilot, Jon Karkow, also perished in a crash maneuvering low: http://bit.ly/IconCrash The NTSB determined the probable cause of this accident to be “the pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from terrain while maneuvering at a low altitude.” In response the company published guidelines on how to fly low more safely.

]]>Comment on Aviation Safety; We Can Do Better! by Roberthttps://safeblog.org/2017/11/11/aviation-safety-we-can-do-better/comment-page-1/#comment-600
Sat, 11 Nov 2017 16:53:34 +0000https://safeblog.org/?p=1805#comment-600You should be ashamed of yourselves. Exploiting an aviation tragedy and pointing blame at the pilot before any investigation is complete. If every pilot had to pay the ultimate price for a lapse in judgement, none of us would be left flying. This post is disgraceful.
]]>Comment on Addressing the “Loss of Control” Dilemma! by David St. Georgehttps://safeblog.org/2017/11/04/addressing-the-loss-of-control-dilemma/comment-page-1/#comment-599
Mon, 06 Nov 2017 02:53:23 +0000https://safeblog.org/?p=1771#comment-599Sorry David, you are right, lots of deadly undefined terms! DPE is a “Designated Pilot Examiner” a person empowered by the FAA to administer flight tests. The guidance we must use for the pilot test is the ACS or “Airman Certification Standard” which defines all the tasks an applicant for a pilot certificate must accomplish and the criteria for successful accomplishment.
]]>Comment on Addressing the “Loss of Control” Dilemma! by David F. Quaglianahttps://safeblog.org/2017/11/04/addressing-the-loss-of-control-dilemma/comment-page-1/#comment-598
Sun, 05 Nov 2017 22:53:17 +0000https://safeblog.org/?p=1771#comment-598Nice article. However, I think you should avoid all these undefined letters – as in: DPE , and “as the ACS allows” – what ever that represents! All too often the reader is unfimiliar with these “Letters” and consequently MISS THE MEANING of the message. I suspect most of your audience is aware of these ‘Letters’ – but some are not. By the way, I don’t have any idea what an ‘ACS’ is or why it is allowed – or whom allows it!
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Sat, 04 Nov 2017 14:29:24 +0000http://safeblog.org/?p=241#comment-597[…] SAFE and support our mission of generating aviation excellence in teaching and flying. Our amazing member benefits alone make this commitment worthwhile and fun. Lastly, use our FREE SAFE Toolkit App to put pilot […]
]]>Comment on SAFE Member Discounts Pay You Back! by Preventable Tragedies – SAFE Educational Opportunities!https://safeblog.org/2015/12/29/safe-member-discounts-pay-you-back/comment-page-2/#comment-594
Sat, 28 Oct 2017 12:17:33 +0000http://safeblog.org/?p=241#comment-594[…] SAFE and support our mission of generating aviation excellence in teaching and flying. Our amazing member benefits alone make this commitment worthwhile and fun. Lastly, use our FREE SAFE Toolkit App to put pilot […]
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